Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials,
please consult the Library's online catalog.

Information for Researchers

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17,
U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of
University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and
publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials
protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of
the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited
without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively
with the user.

All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library,
University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html .

Illustrations for
San Francisco: A Pageant have been transferred to
the Pictorial Collection of The Bancroft Library (BANC PIC 1945.008--B).

A portrait of Charles Caldwell Dobie, dated August 1918, has been transferred to the
Pictorial Collection of The Bancroft Library (BANC PIC 1945.009--E).

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog

Arliss, George, 1868-1946.
Correspondent

Atherton, Gertrude Franklin
Horn, 1857-1948. Correspondent

Coolbrith, Ina D. (Ina Donna),
1842?-1928. Correspondent

Cowan, Robert Ernest, 1862-1942.
Correspondent

Creel, George, 1876-1953.
Correspondent

Feuchtwanger, Lion, 1884-1958.
Correspondent

Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964
Correspondent

Hurst, Fannie, 1889-1968.
Correspondent

Lattimore, Owen, 1900-
Correspondent

Lehman, B. H. (Benjamin
Harrison), 1889-1977. Correspondent

Maugham, W. Somerset (William
Somerset), 1874-1965. Correspondent

McWilliams, Carey, 1905-1980.
Correspondent

Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis),
1880-1956. Correspondent

Mitchell, Ruth Comfort.
Correspondent

Norris, Kathleen Thompson,
1880-1966. Correspondent

Older, Fremont, 1856-1935.
Correspondent

Phelan, James D. (James Duval),
1861-1930

Wagner, Harr, 1857-1936.
Correspondent

Wells, H. G. (Herbert George),
1866-1946. Correspondent

Zweig, Stefan, 1881-1942.
Correspondent

Authors, American--California

Opera--California--San Francisco

Theater--California--San Francisco

San Francisco (Calif.)--Social
life and customs

Administrative Information

Processed by Bancroft staff.

Biography

Charles Caldwell Dobie was born in San Francisco March 15, 1881, and unlike many California
writers who went East after their first success, he continued to live in his native city. He
attended local schools and, because of the death of his father and the necessity of
contributing to family support, he never went beyond grammar school in formal education. He
went into insurance work, starting as an errand boy and eventually becoming office manager.
When he was nineteen he joined a class in short story writing inaugurated by W. C. Morrow,
the noted journalist and writer. Under his direction, Dobie learned the short story craft.
Writing in his spare time, he worked for ten years without selling a line. In October 1910
his first story was published in the San Francisco
Argonaut. In 1916 he
resigned his insurance position to devote full time to writing. Thereafter he became a
regular contributor to leading magazines, including
Smart Set,
Harper's, Scribner's and
Pictorial Review. Many of his stories were selected for inclusion in
"best short story" anthologies, notably the Edward J. O'Brien and
O. Henry memorial collections. His first novel,
The Blood Red Dawn, was
published in 1920. Other novels include
Broken to the Plow (ca. 1921),
Less than Kin (1926) and
Portrait of a Courtesan (1934). In
addition, he wrote from time to time, a number of newspaper columns, the most famous of
which was "The Caliph in San Francisco," appearing in the San Francisco
Bulletin, 1925-1926. The books which permanently identified him in the
public mind with San Francisco were
San Francisco: A Pageant (1933) and
San Francisco's Chinatown (1936). Dobie died in his home in San
Francisco on January 11, 1943.

Scope and Content

Charles Caldwell Dobie's papers were presented to the University in July 1944 by
his brother Clarence W. Dobie, as a memorial to their mother, Mrs. Mary Slocumb Dobie.
Covering the period 1905-1943, they consist of correspondence (both incoming letters and
copies of his replies); manuscripts of his books, short stories, plays, articles, etc.;
notes on Chinatown and California history; biographical and autobiographical material and
personalia; some royalty statements; theater and opera programs; announcements, programs and
invitations; and Christmas cards. A key to arrangement is included with this report. Letters
written to Dobie have been arranged alphabetically; single letters filed in appropriate
alphabetical miscellanies. Cards have been placed in the manuscripts catalog for
correspondence of note. A complete index to the incoming correspondence is included with
this report. Dobie's outgoing letters (typed copies and a few originals addressed
to his brother, Clarence) have been arranged chronologically. A photograph of Dobie, dated
August 1918, has been placed in the portrait file and assigned the call number BANC PIC
1945.009--E.

Partial List of Correspondents

A - Miscellaneous

Abdy, H. Bennett, 1922

Abbott, Samuel Leonard Jr. (1891- ), 1935

Adams, Edson F., 1938

Aiken, Ednah (Robinson) (1872- ), ca. 1935. Also Christmas card.

Alameda. Chamber of Commerce, 1938

Alameda. Free Library, 1921

Albert, Charles S., 1936

Albright, Catherine M., 1921

Alexander, Betty, n.d.

All Arts Club, San Francisco, 1921

Allen, Evelyn, n.d.

Allen, Hal, n.d.

Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, 1939

Amercon Club, San Francisco, 1934

American Brotherhood for the Blind, 1937

American Forestry Association, 1939

Anderson, E. M., 1933

Anderson, John D., 1919

Anderson, Lillian, 1932

Appleton, Adeline C., 1929

Arden, Elsie, n.d.

The Argus Book Shop. Chicago., 1935

The Argus Pressclipping Bureau, 1939

Arliss, George (1868-1946), 1926

Armes, George Arthur (1875- ), 1920

Armstrong, Ian, 1938

The Artists and Writers Dinner Club. New York, 1936

Associated Students. Stanford University, n.d.

Associated Students. University of California, 1935

The Authors' Service Bureau, undated

Adventure Magazine

3 letters, 1914-1917

Ainslee's Magazine

5 letters, 1911-1912

Whiting, Robert Rudd (1877-1918)

Alden, Ada Foster

3 letters, 1920-1929

Alexander, Frederich

6 postcards, 1921

Aley, Maxwell

34 letters, 1918-1938

Also, 2 letters addressed to Laura D. Wilck and 2 Christmas cards.

Aley, Ruth

3 letters, 1938 & undated

American Association of University Women

5 letters, 1934-1936

American Blue-Book of Biography

2 letters, undated

American Book Company

4 letters, 1938-1940

Charles Madison Curry (1869-1944)

American Film Company

4 letters, 1917

Stearns, M. M.

Ritchey, Will M.

American Foundation for the Blind, Inc.

2 letters, 1935

American Friends of the Chinese People

2 letters, 1938

American Library in Paris

2 letters, 1935-1937

The American Magazine

6 letters, 1914-1916 & undated

The American Mercury

3 letters, 1925

Angoff, Charles (1902- )

Lustgarten, Edith
See also: Mencken, H. L.

Appleton (D) & Company

3 letters, 1925

Williams, John Lauris Blake (1893- )

Wells, William H.
See also: Appleton (D) - Century Co.

Appleton (D) - Century Co.

195 letters, 1933-1942

Church, F.

Noble, G.

Smith, Edward L.

Smith, Rita

Sohns, H.

Williams, John Lauris Blake (1893 - )

Schaeffer, C. C. Gibson

Haskell, E. O.

The Argonaut

6 letters, 1910-1934

Chapin, William Wallace (1874- )

Hamilton, Mathew

Arronge, Frederic

2 letters, 1939-1940

Arts and Crafts Club. Carmel Calif.

4 letters, 1923

Association Against the Prohibition Amendment

2 letters, 1929

Atherton, Gertrude Franklin (Horn) (1857-1948)

13 letters, 1925-1929 & undated

Also, 2 unsigned typed copies of letters not written to Dobie; and 2 Christmas
cards.

Also, letter, 1918, to the Silhouette Agency and copy of letter, undated, to Otto
K. Liveright; and inscribed visiting card pasted on New Years greeting card.
See
also: The American Mercury and The Smart Set

Merrick, Mollie

2 letters, 1926-1931

Also, 1 Christmas card.

Methodist Episcopal Church. Board of Home Missions and Church
Extension